ISLAMABAD: The administration of Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Tuesday banned the cutting of trees for two months and imposed section 144 across the capital. In a notification issued by ICT, District Magistrate Captain (r) Mushtaq Ahmed has banned any type of illegal construction, sales purchase, cutting of trees and destruction of natural beauty across federal capital.
“It has been observed by the administration with great concerns that continued cutting down of trees is affecting the environment,” said an ICT officer.
Mushtaq had directed the administration to take serious actions including heavy penalties for the violators.
It is relevant to mention here that the forest cover on Margalla Hills is 17,111 acres and is surrounded by Haripur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Taxila and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).
After the creation of Islamabad, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) approached the then provincial government of West Pakistan for the transfer of management of these reserve forests. Hence, of the 17,111 acres of forest, 12,511 acres were leased out to CDA in 1961 of which 11,870 acres comprise the Margalla Reserve Forest and the Banigala Reserve Forest constitute the remaining 641 acres.
An agreement in this regard was signed between the secretary agriculture, West Pakistan and Horticulture Directorate CDA in 1966. The remaining 4,600 acres are under the control of the Punjab Forest Department.